By Devils Advocate
August 1 2002

Another season is almost upon us but has the wage cap really been the 'leveller' it was expected to be. Remember a maximum of £1.8 million is allowed as a total club wage bill for any one club but I still see the same old faces at the top of the pile. It's hardly a raging success. Okay, so some might think the cap goes some way to
creating a 'level playing field' for all clubs with the likes of Sale and London Irish coming good last term but will this be long term or it just a flash in the pan like Saracens?

Do any of us really believe the cap will bring about a state
where some of the 'lesser' clubs will consistently compete on level terms with the perceived big boys of the English game. The more likely scenario is that the more illustrious clubs will keep finding another edge to keep them ahead of the field.

Call me a cynic, but long term and despite arguments that it will stop other clubs going to the wall the way London Scottish and Richmond did,
I cannot honestly see much success in a system that puts barriers in the way of teams that want to progress and have the financial clout to do so. Can't those in charge see that in doing so these clubs will take the domestic game to a higher level in this country and by doing so improve the international side as a by product. Yes its all very well envisaging competitive games week in week out but its plain to see that this levelling is a result of dragging teams down rather than up to the same perceived playing status.

If you're a talented player and have international ambitions sooner or later you move to a club with the best facilities, coaching and infrastructure. Its human nature to want to better yourself and, putting loyalties aside, a player who knows that he could be stepping nearer his dream by joining club A from club B. It would be churlish to stand in their way?

During the McGeechan era at Northampton we saw this in abundance with players of international standing literally queuing up to join the club.

The cap restricts this movement of players whereas in the past players on the whole gravitated towards a top half dozen of clubs where more often than not the best coaching and, lets face it, international recognition was more readily available. Hats off to Clive Woodward he has spread his net further than his predecessors but with no disrespect to Leeds, as an example look at Dan Scarborough.

In a struggling side he scored a hatfull last season but just how much better would he have been playing on the wing for Leicester or fullback for Gloucester or maybe being coached by the likes of Wayne Smith or Brendan Venter? Of course as it stands if those clubs were up to their cap limit there was no way he could have joined them which beggars the question just where would this type of player have been if Leeds were relegated. Maybe lost forever?

Having a perceived level playing field only aides the international side and those players involved if every club can offer every player identical facilities and quality of coaching. Of course in the real world they cannot.

But back to the cap itself. It's so open to abuse that it's laughable.
Its a well known fact that a certain London rugby club paid large, sometimes six figure, retainers to their players before the deadline of
the cap coming in. And I am willing to bet they are not on their own?
Probably most clubs, that were able, offered their senior players incentives to sign on the dotted line.

Then you have the numerous players that are paid for 'other' jobs or are paid a direct sum by sponsors connected to their club rather than their club dipping into their wage capped pot. Of course this is not against the laws laid down when the cap was devised but as one senior figure said its surely 'against the spirit of the agreement'. Lets face it the bigger the club the bigger the sponsor's fee and again it eats away at the level playing field notion.

But can you blame the clubs?
It's a competitive environment (we wouldn't watch it if it wasn't) and if you can bend the laws to give you an edge, you do it, no questions asked.
The games professional now and big money hangs on the likes of European qualification etc.

But what happens if you fall foul of the 'capping authorities'?
The ultimate sanction is to ban the offenders from European competition.
That’s just plain crazy in itself. Has it occurred to the blazered buffoons that by imposing a wage cap they are putting all English clubs at a possible disadvantage in Europe anyway? Yes English clubs have won it three years on the trot but most fail at the first hurdle year after year and perhaps those that saw success are better at 'managing their funds' than most.

There is no cap of this type in France, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Thus not the level playing field envisaged when sides play out of domestic competition. Someone needs to wake up and smell the coffee to realise that the European Cup is THE big tournament available to English clubs now.

Yes its nice to win the ZP or the domestic cup but the Heineken Cup is the big one and English clubs do start at an unfair disadvantage.

Do those whose devised the cap expect clubs to employ extra and/or better players for European rounds? Of course not, it's just not feasible. So the English clubs suffer through the lack of vision of their administrators.

How can they expect to compete long term when sides such as Montferrand and Toulouse are building sides with rumoured playing budgets of £4m and £7m respectively.
Of course I'm not suggesting clubs break the bank and follow suit but if they have that kind of cash at their disposal, why not?

If there are to be financial constraints on clubs it should only be to ensure that their outgoings whether it be for wages, taxes, rents etc
do not outstrip their incomings, thus not threatening the livelihood of their players and staff and ultimately the future of the
club itself.

Surely a central team of accountants can be
employed to check on such matters rather than trying to keep tabs on this farcical wagecap. If clubs are successful in the financial side of
things they should be allowed to spend their money as they see fit instead of being restrained by this capping system that is plainly not working.

On the other hand if they are not financially successful they should cut their cloth to suit, but why drag other clubs down to the level of the lowest common denominator?

Here's a scenario. Supposing, later in the season at Northampton, the Saints are well in profit. Wayne Smith sees that by strengthening the squad we might have the chance to pick up more silverware. We are a business and owe it to the supporters and the shareholders to gain the best possible success.

Why shouldn't Keith Barwell be able to release the money if it's available and not putting the club in the red?

Of course as it stands he cannot. Unless as others are already doing, he brings in Jonny Wilkinson as a groundsmans assistant and Christian Cullen on Tetleys cash.

The whole things a farce.
The cap should be discarded now before it leads to more conflict and embarrassment within the game.

If a club has the financial clout to compete at the highest levels, so it should, unhindered !!!

I will not be holding my breath on this one though……….